The dark side of style

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Fashion with noir attitude: metal couture by Assassinus, worn with PVC and velvet by Tinkervamp.Photo: Supplied

Designers with a difference are breaking away from the
main event, writes Jill Stark.

They may be a tad morose and their fashion sense not to
everyone's taste, but you can't deny that the modern-day Goth has
style.

The days when our Gothic friends were content just to throw on
some black clothes and paint dark lines under their eyes are long
gone. Now, any discerning member of this much-maligned subculture
tries a bit harder to create a unique look.

In a catwalk show in the city tonight, hundreds of Goths will
gather to catch a glimpse of some of the most innovative and
subversive designs you're likely to see in the L'Oreal Melbourne
Fashion Festival.

Set to the gloomy sounds of Nick Cave and Bauhaus, Nocturnal
Instincts offers a refreshing alternative to the polished
glamour of mainstream couture.

Sixty Gothic models in a one-off runway show will sport fashion
oddities that include armoured metal costumes, skirts made from the
inner tubes of tyres, cyberwear and, of course, lots of black
PVC.

Designers with wonderfully obscure names such as Tinkervamp,
Geomythik and Asylum 7 will show there's more to Goth fashion than
black trenchcoats and Dr Marten boots.

"So many people take so much care in what they wear. If you want
to see a well-dressed guy, you can see that in Goth culture," says
organiser Nikaya Lewis. "Gothic fashion has a whole separate
history of its own. It's predominantly black, but with the cyber
influences you find a lot of colour coming through. Our show has
been put together to be the complete antithesis to what's happening
in fashion week."

And although they may be marginalised by polite society, Lewis
maintains Gothic style is still mimicked by many big-name
designers.

"There are a lot of elements of the Goth subculture creeping
into mainstream fashion," she says. "There are a lot of examples of
designers using things that are traditionally Gothic, like lace or
period-inspired styles, and PVC is making a bit of a leap. It's not
something that Goths are always happy to have taken into the
mainstream, because we like to be different and separate."

But Lewis insists the show will not be a sullen occasion and
expects audiences to party on into the wee hours at a Gothic club
following the fashion parade. "There are some really depressed and
sad people in the culture, but a lot of people have moved on from
that quite a while ago. They're out to have a good time and are
just attracted to this style. It's fashion and music-driven; it's
not about whether they're an angry person. Generally, Goths are
quite opinionated, but they're harmless - you wouldn't go into a
Goth club and get a brawl; it just wouldn't happen.

"This is about people who are willing to stand up and say, 'I'm
not happy about how our mainstream is approaching fashion - we want
to do things differently.' It's a good opportunity to say this is
who we are and this is what we do."